The Good Father

by Wayne Grady

From award-winning, bestselling author Wayne Grady comes The Good Father , his first contemporary novel, which comically and tragically reckons with a father and daughter's estrangement, the failures brought on by hubris, the limits of perception and the price we pay for second chances.

Every story has two sides, two perspectives. And when it comes to a relationship between a daughter and her father, separated first by divorce and then by both generational gaps and physical and emotional distance, those perspectives can colossally diverge.

Such is the case with Harry Bowes and his only daughter, Daphne. Harry is a mild mannered journalist turned teacher turned wine merchant who is content to putter around his home in Toronto eating things straight out of the fridge that both his doctor and his second wife, Elinor, would disapprove of, and procrastinate calling his daughter even though he senses something is amiss. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Daphne seems intent on a course of nihilism, having gone from being a loving girl to a top student to a hostile young woman who is determined to destroy her life and relationships by self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. When a catastrophic event wrenches them out of their states, one of stasis and one of chaos, Harry and Daphne are forced to examine the ways in which their self-absorption has eroded their connection and discover whether a family's bond is truly ironclad or if their damage is irreparable.

Told in alternating perspectives, The Good Father delivers a deeply satisfying and layered novel of love, perception, family and domesticity. Propelled by regret, compassion, frustration and comfort, this novel gives us Wayne Grady at the height of his powers.

Genres: Canada, Fiction, Contemporary, Family, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Adult Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Wayne Grady is the award-winning author of Emancipation Day, a novel of denial and identity. He has also written such works of science and nature as The Bone Museum, Bringing Back the Dodo, The Quiet Limit of the World, and The Great Lakes, which won a National Outdoor Book Award in the U.S. With his wife, novelist Merilyn Simonds, he co-authored Breakfast at the Exit Café: Travels Through America. And with David Suzuki he co-wrote the international bestseller Tree: A Life Story.

He has also translated fourteen works of fiction from the French, by such authors as Antonine Maillet, Yves Beauchemin, and Danny Laferrière. In 1989, he won the Governor General’s Award for his translation of Maillet’s On the Eighth Day. His most recent translation is of Louis Hamelin’s October 1970, published by House of Anansi Press in 2013.

Grady teaches creative writing in the optional-residency MFA program at the University of British Columbia. He and Merilyn Simonds live in the country north of Kingston, Ontario.

Reviews

[Penny (Literary Hoarders) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this dry and plodding. Sorry.

[Guylou (Two Dogs and a Book) · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚 Hello Book Friends! O-M-G!!! This book was not at all what I expected; it was so much better. I was not sure where the story was ending in the beginning but then it just captured my heart and did not let go until the end. The final dialog between father and daughter was so emotional and touching. I lost my father last December and I was not there when he died. I have had so many regrets about that and reading this dialog reminded me that you can’t control everything… surely not death. This book is beautifully written and sounds true. I loved it.

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[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed Wayne Grady’s previous novels (Emancipation Day and Up From Freedom), I certainly wanted to read his latest. It did not disappoint.

The book focuses on a father-daughter relationship. Harry Bowes moves to Toronto from the small town of White Falls (“on the Madawaska River, between Ottawa and Peterborough”) to take a teaching job; he leaves behind his wife and ten-year-old daughter Daphne. He never lives in White Falls again because his marriage ends in divorce and he eventually remarries. He remains in contact with Daphne, visiting her and having her visit him, but their connection is eroded.

Daphne feels abandoned by her father, and the loving young girl is replaced by a hostile young woman who seems determined to totally destroy her relationship with Harry; she physically distances herself from him and limits contact with him. Then she abandons her studies and begins self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. A crisis brings them together physically, but will they be able to bridge the emotional distance?

I found myself frustrated with Harry. He is supposed to be the adult, but he does not behave as one. He doesn’t give much thought to how his move from home will affect his daughter. He doesn’t even tell her that he’s leaving; he just assumes she will be alright: “The relationship and trust and companionship he had built up with her over the years would ripen.” Later, when it’s obvious that Daphne is not doing well, he has to be pushed to make more than a cursory effort to contact her. Rather than reach out to find out exactly what Daphne is doing, he imagines best-case scenarios, “picturing her in a bright, cheerful apartment, with hardwood floors and tall windows that let in plenty of sunlight. . . . Food in the refrigerator, healthful food, smoked salmon, Boston lettuce, and a jar of real capers . . . and a small wine rack with bottles of a clear Okanagan sauvignon blanc.” Harry is so right when he comments on his passivity: “’I think I may just have been doing what was easiest for me.’”

I sometimes found myself equally frustrated with Daphne. Her behaviour as a child is understandable; she feels abandoned by her father with whom she had a close bond. She looks for affection and attention elsewhere. As a young adult, however, she makes choices that seem to be intended to punish her father because she cannot forgive him, even when those same choices destroy her own life. She is so focused on what she sees as her father’s betrayal that she continues to blame him and wallow in self-pity when, in fact, she bears responsibility for her actions. It takes a long time for her to admit that maybe her father’s leaving was “more a mistake than a premeditated desertion.”

The novel provides a dual perspective; the reader sees both Harry and Daphne’s points of view. It is so realistic to read Harry saying, “’Daphne isn’t always there. She’s always somewhere else’” and later, when he argues, “’I was always there for you’” have Daphne counter with “’Always there, never here.’” In Daphne’s chapters, when she is facing a personal crisis and resorts to drugs again and again, she refers to herself in the second person. This approach is somewhat disorienting but very effectively shows the chaos in her life.

There are two aspects which I particularly enjoyed. As a former English teacher, I loved the many literary allusions. Shakespeare is quoted often, but W. B. Yeats and Walter Raleigh and Matt Cohen and Robertson Davies and Edna O’Brien and Siri Hustvedt and others are referenced. Though White Falls is fictional, I grew up in the Madawaska Valley so references to “the Madawaska Valley accent” and “Madawaska Grunge” made me smile, as did mentions of Pembroke and Foymount.

The father-daughter relationship is portrayed so realistically that readers who are fathers or daughters will be inspired to examine their own relationships. The novel reminds us that love requires “So much forgiveness . . . so much overlooking of hurt, so much emphasis on intentionality” and that love has many shapes. Such a though-provoking book should be read.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).

[Lauren McCabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Good Father by Wayne Grady is a complex, multi perspective book that takes an in depth look at a father and daughter’s complicated relationship.

It is told from two perspectives: the daughter, Daphne who is floundering; and, the father, Harry, who is trying his best, albeit, not doing very well.

The prose in this novel makes you feel as though you are Daphne and you are Harry. You feel for them so deeply, and are very much caught in their trauma. The description puts you right there with them, without making the novel drag out. The plot was very much unexpected and I was pleasantly surprised at how it unfolded.

This is a raw look at addiction, familial relationships and grief. I enjoyed the Canadian perspectives and references.

I most definitely recommend this novel!

5 stars!

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this novel.

[Jayde Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to feel about this book because I was so enamoured with it until the last two chapters. They felt disconnected from the rest of the story, like I was reading a different book entirely.

Prior to the ending though, I loved it. Such a beautifully written, deep dive into a complicated father-daughter relationship. It hit home. Also really enjoyed all of the literature references. And so cool that most of it takes place on the streets of Vancouver!

“But love isn’t some tinselly balloon we carry around on a string. It’s a lead weight strapped to our chest, and our hearts get heavier every time we think about the object of our love. You know how your heart goes thump when you see your beloved? Well, that’s another lead weight being added to your heart. I think of my dad and my heart plummets with the weight.”

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the first chapter difficult to get into....I thought it was going to be a complaining story of how hard her life was etc., I do not enjoy those stories.
But after the first chapter I started to really enjoy the story and all the characters.
If I could give it 4 and 1/2 stars I would.
Worth the read!

[Brooke Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book 4/5 stars but really it is more like 3.5/5 stars. the story is told from the perspectives of father and daughter- Harry and Daphne. They do not have an easy relationship as Harry leaves when Daphne is 10 years old.

At some points the book was hard to follow as chapters switched between Harry and Daphne's perspectives and time jumped each chapter. Story lines became confusing because of this but eventually it kinds of works itself out.

I had some issues with the ending but I won't talk to much about it as I don't want to give anything away.

Last thoughts: good book if you are interested in reading about Father/ Daughter estrangement and reconciliation, TW for drug and alcohol addiction and abuse.

[Jenn Chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been 5 stars but once I hit the section that said part 2 which was with 40 pages left the whole book took a turn. It left part one with such a cliff hanger that did not seem to get resolved and there was a lot of new information that had nothing to do with the original plot. I wish it kept closer to what the original story line was and answered questions.

[Sylvie Winney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. Not a book I would have chosen myself, received it in my sweet reads, and was a very good book. Showed the reality of addiction.

[Kenzie Beatty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the team at Penguin Random House Canada

While the premise of this story intrigued me, overall I felt the execution fell a bit flat. I will say when I first read the title and saw the cover I thought it was a thriller and not a contemporary/literary fiction. So unfortunately I think that had a play in my thoughts on the book as a whole. I think the characters had a lot of potential, and the relationship between Harry and Daphne felt realistic enough, but I think the biggest downfall was the structure. From reading the synopsis you are aware of a “catastrophic” event that will alter the lives of both Harry and Daphne. I felt the plot leading up to this is on the slower side and that it happened way too late in the narrative, not allowing the reader to see the re-connection between the two.

I did love the use of the dual perspective and the choice of using second person for Daphne’s chapters while she is abusing drugs. It’s such a disorienting style of writing that accurately depicts Daphne’s state during that period in her life. Set between Harry’s third person chapters it highlights the monotony of his chapters and the chaos of Daphne’s.

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book as a gift. I was pleased to see that it was written by a Canadian author and by one that had not read before. The book was somewhat of a disappointment to me. It is told from two points of view - the father Harry and his 20-year-old daughter Daphne. Each point of view was told from a different time frame. Even though the time difference was only a few months, I found it confusing and difficult to follow. More than once I had to go back and read the chapter page which had the date on it. I also found that I couldn't relate to or sympathize with either point of view. Wayne Grady did a fairly good job of portraying the hitches and misunderstandings that can occur in familial relationships. He also does a good job of displaying what goes on in the mind of an addict. But the story just didn't come together for me. Even the ending was confusing even though it resolved most of the outstanding issues. My 3-star rating isa bit of a stretch because, for me, most of the book was 2-stars. But there were enough little gems in the book to bring it up to a hopeful 3 stars. I did enjoy the close looks at Vancouver and Toronto. These were two of the most self-absorbed characters that I've ever come across in fiction. It was with a feeling of relief that I closed the covers on this book.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat bizarre story about a dysfunctional relationship between a father & his daughter-but very compellingly written. The father walks out on his family when the daughter is age 10 because of his wife's constant criticism & putdowns, as well as his frustration with his teaching job where his efforts are not accepted by the principal. . He will move from the small town where they live to Toronto getting a job at York U & forming a new relation which will last a few years before falling apart. He will change from teacher to wine merchant. His daughter runs away to Vancouver where she will become a drug addict & form an affair with a wealthy lawyer, who is also a cokehead. Father's frequent attempts at reuniting & communicating with his daughter are always rebuffed, but ultimately he will go to Vancouver, track her down & rescue her from a nearly fatal overdose. She will subsequently be rehabilitated, giving up drugs & booze & getting a job with a film company, looking for appropriate settings for films. Her father dies of colon cancer, but she will thrive & ultimately acquire a rustic & isolated property on an island on the West coast, where the novel ends with her fantasizing a conversation with her deceased father that she never could have had in life.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a heartbreaking, poignant, messy, real look at a father-daughter relationship over the course of several years. A story of abandonment, pain, regret, failures and ultimately one of forgiveness and reconciliation. Told in alternating perspectives between Harry and his daughter Daphne, we get both sides of their experiences. Daphne had trouble dealing with her parent's divorce and turned to drugs and Harry remarries but also struggles with alcoholism and a cancer diagnosis. I found the first half difficult to connect with (Daphne deep dives into drug addiction) but I really enjoyed the Canadian references in Toronto, Vancouver and cottage country. I connected to the story a lot more towards the conclusion, after Daphne's recovery when she's turned her life around and ends up working on a documentary about the opioid crisis in Canada. Definitely worth a read but a heads up for some heavy topics relating to drug addiction and end of life care.

CW: drug overdose, drug and alcohol addiction, death of a parent from cancer

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally enjoy a story told from multiple viewpoints, as was this one. I felt that this story was well written and I could empathize with the two main characters; father and daughter. While both made mistakes and were, most of the time, at odds with each other, the story gave the reader interesting perspectives. The story was told in two parts. The beginning of the second part was the section that gave me some trouble. There was a long story of a job the daughter had that I suspect was chuck full of symbolism, that went right over my head. However, the last part of the second section was interesting and quite emotional.

[Stephanie Marks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book ranks closer to a 3.5/5 in my opinion. Overall, I found this book to be emotionally heavy at times, and it was well-written. However, the plot structure was tricky to follow at some points, and it required focus to track when the events were taking place. I found some of the characteristics of the father-daughter relationship to be a little predictable, and there were pieces to the story I wish were more developed. I did enjoy that this book was based in Canada (it's always fun reading stories featuring Toronto). A good read overall.

[Jen W · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the description of this book and wanted to give it a fair shot (even though the reviews were not great). Sadly, I cannot say I enjoyed this book. The writing style just did not work for me. I found it very slow and just couldn’t get into it. The concept of including Daphne’s letters to herself was good however, I think for me the content was lost as was skimming at points as the storyline was plodding along. I will say the book had some redeeming qualities at the end in the chapters that were 10 years later.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an intelligent fiction by an intellectual. Grady writes very well his dislikeable characters; their trials kept me reading. He sabotages his work, however, by overuse of obvious and subtle literary allusions. I found more than one, paraphrased, embedded in his long paragraphs. By the end of the work I found them smug and distracting. I confess, though, his mention of Maggie Muggins and Mr. McGarrity did resonate. But were they necessary? Overall, three stars for this story of a "family" who work through conflicts, both within themselves and with each other...

[Shaista Khan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it, I tried to like it, I just wasn't sucked in at all. I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary story telling when I was only interested in the father-daughter elements. It was nice to see Vancouver as the setting, the details were very specific, I knew exactly where the story was taking place at any given time. I did not understand how after all the attention to detail the UBC team was referred to as the UBC-ers...I've never heard of this in my life - all the teams have always been called the Thunderbirds. This is a weird detail to get hung up on but I couldn't help it.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this novel. I think it did a really good job highlighting the realities of alcoholism and addiction, and the complexity of familial relationships.

The story also highlighted the fact that there are always more than one side of the story. How a Dad sees and experiences something will be completely different than how a daughter experiences something.

But the story was a little boring. It unfolded in an expected manner. And the Part 2 was not satisfying and maybe not even necessary?

Mixed feelings for sure. This was a Sweet Reads book. I would not have picked it up for myself.

[Kristen Colquhoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story set in small town Whitefalls, Ontario and Vancouver. A story of father and daughter from both perspectives. Story becomes a little disjointed in Part 2 … transition wasn’t smooth … but it worked out in the end. Nice reminder that what we perceive as someone’s thoughts and intentions may be far from the truth.

[Sherry Monger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I feel the novel has some structural problems, it remains a heartfelt study of family relationships...how we inadvertently let people down, feel resentment and anger and then are unable to truly communicate with those we love the most. As we view events solely from our own point of view, our impact on others often goes unexplored - allowing emotions to fester.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I much preferred the first part over the second half and I would have liked more about the time Daphne was in Toronto with her father. This is a hard book to say one enjoyed because there‘s some tough stuff around Daphne‘s drug addiction and Harry‘s alcoholism but the writing was good and the character development was very strong.

[Amanda W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Maybe this book hit too close to home for me (not just the plot but all the references to BC and Ontario locations and events) but I’d give it 6 stars if I could. I look forward to reading this book a few more times maybe at different stages of my life. Highly recommend and not a light read.

[Diane Vigeant · Rating 4 out of 5]

In depth exploration of a fictional father daughter relationship gone awry and an eventual attempt at mutual understanding. Well written story from each person’s perspective with good character development keeps the reader turning the pages.

[Wendy Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd actually give this 3.75 stars. The story of the relationship between a daughter and father, told first person in alternating chapters. It made me think about the relationship I had with my dad ... very thought provoking ...

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult relationship between father and daughter and the attempt to resolve it. I was engaged right through to the end, but struggled with the actual last 30-40 pages.
Much of the story takes place in BC, which is fun.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good moments in this book-examining the father daughter relationship from different perspectives....
I enjoyed the local history detail of Vancouver Island and environs- however the ending was detached and unsatisfactory - I was hoping for so much more.......3.5 stars

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, I almost gave up on this book in the first chapter. But it does get better and I was glad I continued reading it. Interesting story of family relationships told from different perspectives.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The very last few pages of this book were great. The rest felt slow and plodding. Maybe with lots of reflection and analysis I would see the connection between all the details and side stores, but in general I was disappointed by this book.

[Heather(Gibby) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Hard to get into, but then the interchanging points of view come together and the story flows better, and the reader gets an intimate view into a complicated father daughter relationship.

The final chapter however , bored me and I really only skimmed through it.